Castro app : Know your Smartphone

The specifications of a smartphone are not always found in the plain sight. Also, there can be irregularities between the specs provided by the manufacturer and the actual device. It's also necessary to know the hardware and software of your device whether you are a geek or a normal user.

A third-party app that can display all the information required is essential and Castro is the best application (ad-free), which we could find in Play Store. This app was suggested by one of my close friends and surprisingly it has a sleek interface. 

There is also a Premium version that has Night Mode Support, Customisable Widget and Dash Clock Widgets for $1.99. The premium version is not actually required as we can fulfill all our needs with the free version itself. This application mainly focuses on bringing you the info of your hardware and it does a good job. It can show you the System, Device, Processor, Battery, Memory, Cellular, Wi-Fi, Sensors, Back Camera, Front Camera and Codec specifications. It has over 100,000 downloads and proper updates. 

There are apps like CPU-Z, My device and some of them can even assess installed applications. But Castro is the best suited for the needs of an average user. 

That's it, folks, there are tons of new apps to be reviewed so stay tuned. 

A Beginner's Experience of Pokemon GO 2017

Pokémon GO Review 2017 ???

A revolutionary franchise in a modernistic outlook Pokémon Go, the augmented reality game released in July 2016 was an instant success in the gaming industry. The success of the game was largely contributed by the fans of the original series. Their interest solely lies in the nostalgia, one get when playing Pokémon Go.

This article was published exclusively in App Nation WordPress.

Blogger vs WordPress

Reasons Why I still blog in Blogger even though it's dying

Blogger is one of the first blogging platform that came to existence in 1999 and was acquired by Google in 2003. Started during the dot-com bubble,  It was a huge moment for the Internet users. Professional as well as passionate bloggers joined this wonderful platform. But today, WordPress claims that it owns 28% of websites in internet and the lack of support from Blogger to its users accelerate the process of bloggers moving to alternatives.

The Blogger app made for Android and iOS devices is buggy and will not support the modifications of the template. 

If one uses the seamless bug-free WordPress app, we can find that it is more advanced. There is no common platform in which the posts published by bloggers can be exhibited. 

A lot of projects like FeedBurner API, Google Reader has been shut down by Google and continuing in Blogger is not quite promising.  

But there still exists a handful of bloggers who use this platform. Even we got a scare when all our blogs were down for almost two whole days. I am one of the bloggers who believe in this platform and expect some modifications. We cannot simply ignore the benefits of this platform too. Here in this post we give our five reasons for preferring Google-owned Blogger over other trendy colourful platforms.

Simple Interface

This platform is user-friendly and I prefer Blogger because of its versatility for a beginner and a professional. It is straightforward and doesn't believe in adding complicated interface and is a lightweight system. Moreover it is currently owned by Google and all the photos other media can be backed up in Google Photos and Drive and are accessible quite easily.

One can modify or customize the template

 Here comes the main reason for we using Blogger. One can customize or upload templates. Note that there is no support to integrate your blog with a server, instead it will redirect your custom domain to your blog. We are like a novice in the field of website development and would love to fiddle with the html codes of the template. If one pays for the WordPress Premium version, there is an option to change the codes. But seriously who would pay for experimenting, if you can experiment in a free platform. 

Here comes the word, I am an experimental blogger.

Adsense Integration for free

Adsense is a monetizing programme by Google which can be implemented in Blogger for free. In WordPress, one has to pay for a Premium version to add advertisements by Adsense. Otherwise they will put ads on your website for maintaining the network. Blogger is be free for all, and also provides an option to monetise one's content. 

Let us appreciate Blogger for it. 

It is owned by the best search-engine

Google is unarguably the best search engine and I don't think this fact is going to change. SEO wasn't bad, but nowadays WordPress blogs have a slight edge over Blogger. WordPress can be the platform for professionals and Blogger for those who can boost their post manually by using social networks.

It has scope for improvement

Blogger has the potential to become the best blogging platform, provided if they can help bloggers with SEO and create a common platform for them. A Blogger android app similar to WordPress app will definitely prompt bloggers to choose this platform. When we search for the best blogging platform, WordPress tops the list. This can be changed, if Google takes necessary steps. Blogger was one of my favourite blogging platform but it hasn't matched up with its competitors. In the age of smartphones, we search for a platform which can match up to our requirements. Blogger.com can become the blogging platform, every blogger is looking for.

This is our twentieth post and we have an announcement to make, that we are starting a new WordPress site which bears the same name. -App Nation at WordPress

How to fix d3dx9_37.dll error in Windows 10 ?

The d3dx9_37.dll is missing error popped up when we first tried to open Burnout Paradise. It is probably because of the absence of the respective Direct X version. Also if you are playing the game directly from the installed files, there is no option for a Direct X download. This error can be solved by the download of Direct X End-User Runtime Web Installer from the Microsoft website itself. There are a number of solutions suggested by other websites. But downloading from Microsoft is safe. When you download the installer (about 300kb), you will be prompted to download a 91mb download through it.

App Nation: After downloading and installing Direct X, we were able to open the game. For the record, Burnout Paradise is one of the best open world racing games available (For a laptop without a graphics card).

Check out: The Best Drifting Game ever (Android)

Direct X is a collection of APIs for handling tasks like gaming, multimedia, and programming on Microsoft platforms.

If the problem still persists, try restarting your PC or reinstall the game along with the Direct X version provided with it. Also, update your graphics card/video card drivers.

Sponsored: Accounting Software with GST, COMRADE Accounting Software

Let me know in the comments below whether the fix was applicable to your PC. 

#appnationfix

Unacademy App Review - A learning app

Preparing for exams like IAS, TNPSC, PSC, NET etc. is tough but the solution which the latest technology can provide is an app to prepare for exams in India.

Unacademy is an ideal app that provides quality content to aspirants of IAS, NET and other competitive exams. Being called as India's largest learning platform, this app will help students to connect with qualified teachers who provide lectures for free. High-quality videos with an option of offline viewing can be helpful to students from all sectors of the society. Individuals who are interested to contribute to this app can use Unacademy Educator App to post their courses.

 App Nation: This app is definitely a revolutionary app which can provide you with rich content oriented videos especially to discuss previous question papers. We went through the app, it has a good interface and one can study almost any subject (Free of cost). The main concern is we should find best tutors and lectures. Even though a rating has been allotted to every course,  the reliability of the content is not assured. The content provided is free of cost but cannot replace coaching from reputed institutions. If you have time to spend in a smartphone, this app will make you more aware about Current Affairs and give you the best content that Internet can provide for your exams. 

Unacademy is one of the best learning app available for Indian Competitive Exams. Feel free to install the app and join this initiative.

Android
Unacademy 

CarX Drift Racing Review 2017

Racing Games are always exciting to play in Android but CarX Drift Racing gives you a chance to drive a car around and drift. It is fundamentally a car simulator which solely focuses on the drifting capability of the player. The graphics in this game makes it stand at a whole new level. Gorgeous graphics with detail will definitely amaze any Android gamer.

The interface and menu is surprisingly simple and the controls are not so different from other racing games. Even though the size of the game is about 250 MB, it deserves to be compared with the top games like Asphalt 8. There are different camera viewing angles and sets it apart from many popular titles in this genre.

App Nation Smooth Gaming Experience

 "We tested "CarX Drifting Racing" in a Xperia  phone with 4 gigs of RAM, and it was a satisfactory gaming experience. The game had a eight second delay (Loading Screen) to open. The phone got warm after 2 minutes of gameplay. There was a bit of overheating of phone, but it was expected, I guess."

"The interface is pretty straightforward. Since drifting is the main objective of the game, we didn't have a smooth experience in the first match and scrambled around the controls; handbrake, brake and the accelerator. Scored a 60 out of 700 points in the first match. But we went for training in the second try and scored 720 in three minutes"

Verdict

The graphics in "CarX Drifting Racing" is surreal and if you like to drift, spend some minutes to install and play this game. It's also a serious game with no turbo boosts and also gives you the most refined form of racing itself.

Drift Racing from CarX-Tech is not the ideal racing game for a beginner. But the game lives up to its name to stand out as the best drifting game available in for a smartphone platform. 

Platforms: Available Android, iOS and Windows.

Visit CarX Technology website.

Download Link

CarX Drift Racing Android 

CarX Drift Racing iOS

CarX Drift Racing Windows

OnePlus 5 Review

                

OnePlus 5 is unarguably one of the best smartphones available in the market. But we hear that it is not quite a flagship killer when compared to its predecessor. Packed with Snapdragon 835, it is lightning-quick to respond. These are the specs of One Plus 5.

Processor:

Qualcomm MSM8998 Snapdragon 835 Adeno 540(Released June 2017)

This is the best available smartphone processor and the chip is smaller in size when compared to Snapdragon 821. The smaller size will definitely enable them to make this smartphone thinner or pack in with a powerful battery.

Display:

5.5 inch 1080p AMOLED touchscreen, Corning Gorilla Glass 5

The AMOLED screen is the same display its predecessor OnePlus 3 used. It can be a disappointment for some, but as a budget phone, it looks quite good. The Corning Glass 5 might give you a bit of extra protection from minor drops and scratches too.

RAM:

6GB or 8 GB LPDDR4

Storage:

64 or 128 GB RAM

Operation System:

Android 7.1.1(Nougat)

Nougat is certainly energy-efficient and user-friendly. Being the latest release of Android, it has its own advantages too.

Camera:

Dual Camera System, 16MP-Primary/20MP Telephoto camera, 16MP-Secondary

The dual camera is one of the features which was unexpected in OnePlus 5 and makes it look like a copy of iPhone. But definitely it enables the user to capture comparatively better photos.

Battery:

3300mA Li-Po Battery (with Dash Charging)

3300mA is not a great battery power rating, but it will allow one to use it for an entire day. The revolutionary dash-charging capability coupled with energy-efficient processor might satisfy a tech-savvy individual.

Weight:

153g

This is one of the attributes that one should check before buying a phone. Because sometime if we get a bunch load of powerful specifications, the phone might turn a bit more heavier than usual. But in this case, OnePlus 5 weights only 153 g.

Price:

INR 32,999

Since OnePlus is a small company, they are unable to get the cutting-edge technology which S8 and iPhone 7 have. But for a price of under 600 dollars (33,000 INR), this is a smartphone for those who want to get the latest technology without spending a lot of money.

                     

This phone also lacks a bezel-display and has no water-resistance. But it doesn't actually matters for a person who is looking for a budget phone.

OnePlus is an innovative company who makes phones by analysing the consumers. By the release of OnePlus 3, they provided us with a phone that rivalled Apple and Samsung phones. But now they have responded with an amazing phone which is suitable for an average user.